Hazlewood, who was last part of the RCB squad in 2021, will once again the leading the pacers in the upcoming IPL season. After securing his services, RCB’s batting coach Dinesh Karthik acknowledged the importance of Hazlewood to the team.

“Everybody from RCB and and all the fans have all said let’s go for Josh Hazlewood and here we have him. Josh Hazlewood, it was all about who can we get and we got Josh Hazlewood. I think all Bengaluru should be smiling at that option because we have seen what he can do in the year that he came, we qualified and he was such a major and integral part of that attack,” Karthik said.

RCB’s other buys of the first day included England all-rounder Liam Livingstone for INR 8.75 crore, young Indian wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma for INR 11 crore and explosive England batter Phil Salt for INR 11.5 crore. Karthik was excited about signing Jitesh and Salt for their explosive batting styles.

”He (Jitesh) is a very explosive middle -order batsman. We wanted someone who is on the fringes of the Indian team and he is right there. We have seen what he can do in the IPL. Has got areas that he can hit and RCB being a ground where you can play spin well, he comes as a very, very good option,” Karthik said about Jitesh.

“Phil Salt, what have I got to say? He is explosive. He is someone who can take on in the power play. Great attitude. Nice guy to have around in the team. Everything about him says he is the kind of guy that RCB would love to have,” Karthik said about Salt.

RCB also made an investment in youth by securing Rasikh Salam Dar, the promising fast bowler from Jammu & Kashmir, for INR 6 crore. The final acquisition of the day came in the form of young leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, bought for INR 2.6 crore.

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Pandya surpassed England’s Liam Livingstone and Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee to regain the top position. This comes after the all-rounder performed well in both the batting and bowling departments against the Proteas.

Some of his highlights from the series include the knock of 39 in the second T20I which carried India to a fighting total. Then his economical spell of 1/8 in 3 overs in the fourth and final T20I helped India in ensuring their triumph in the series.

Another star performer for India in the series was batter Tilak Varma who scored consecutive centuries to lead the Men in Blue to victory in both the third and fourth T20I. In total, Varma scored 280 runs in the 4-match series and was awarded with the Player of the Series award.

These brilliant performances saw Varma rise 69 spots in the T20I batter rankings and ascend to the third position only behind Australia’s Travis Head and England’s Phil Salt. Varma also became the highest-ranked batter on the T20I batter rankings as skipper Suryakumar Yadav slipped to 4th place.

Sanju Samson also had a fantastic series where he scored 2 centuries and cemented his place in India’s T20I set-up. These fabulous performances saw him rise to the 22nd spot. The series against South Africa once again showcased India’s dominance in the T20I format.

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It began when the Three Lions stood at 10/1, with Joseph expressing clear frustration about the slip fielders’ positioning after his first delivery was deflected to point. The 27-year-old was seen gesturing to Hope that he was dissatisfied with the field placing.

The exchange would continue further as Joseph continued waving his arms, prompting an unusual scene early in the innings. Shortly after, Joseph responded with a fiery 148km/h bouncer that clipped England batter Jordan Cox’s glove and safely fell into the wicketkeeper’s hands, securing a big wicket for the Windies.

However, the wicket still didn’t satisfy Joseph marched off the field upon completing his over, leaving West Indies a man short for the next set of deliveries. Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy, who was observing the tense situation, tried to calm down Joseph, however all his efforts went in vain.

In Joseph’s brief absence, substitute fielder Hayden Walsh Jr. began preparing to join the field before Joseph eventually re-emerged, taking a seat in the dugout until the following over. When he finally returned, Joseph was not brought back into the attack immediately. The change-up seemed to work for the hosts as Romario Shepherd took the key wicket of Jacob Bethell on his very first ball.

England found themselves reeling at 24/4 within the first 10 overs. However, opener Phil Salt and all-rounder Sam Curran managed to steady the innings with a 50-run stand for the fifth wicket, rescuing their team from a potential collapse.

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Head targeted England quick Sam Curran in the fifth over and totally obliterated him by scoring 30 runs in the over, with 3 boundaries and sixes each. Head hit boundaries on the first 2 balls before smashing Curran for 3 consecutive sixes. On the final ball, Head hit the third boundary of the over to take Australia’s score to 71/0 after 5 overs.

Despite an incredible start to the innings, Australia would finish at a seemingly below-par total of 179. However, in reply, the England batters completely faltered against the Australian bowling attack. Sean Abbott picked up 3 wickets while Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood took 2 scalps each as the hosts got bowled out for 151 runs in 19.2 overs and lost the match by 28 runs.

After the match, stand-in England captain Phil Salt who led the team in the match due to Jos Buttler’s injury, reflected on his side’s disappointing display.

“Everything was good (about captaincy) apart from the result. Maybe we could have done a bit better but it has given something to get clarity on in the next game,” Salt said.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh praised the opening pair of Head and Short for their “exciting” start before also lauding Zampa and Hazlewood.

“We’re lucky to have guys like Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood in our team, especially for some of our younger guys to learn from. I went back to them and they both applied the pressure when needed,” Marsh said.

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The Englishman also emphasized how the former Indian opener’s fierce competitiveness resonated with him.

“Brilliant experience… doesn’t get any better, coming in and winning the IPL first and foremost. I think GG (Gambhir) is no stranger to Indian cricket fans and cricket fans around the world. His playing record speaks for itself and what I found as a player… just listening to him in his sort of mentoring role,” Salt said at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards ceremony.

“What a competitor. I could really relate to him from that point of view. He’s always looking for the one per cent that’s going to get the individual to be better and what’s going to get the team over the line. So I loved working for him. One word would be a competitor,” Salt added.

Salt revealed that Gambhir was very clear on his expectations from him and laid out a clear game plan for him to follow throughout the season.

“I think the main bit of advice that I took from GG was to take the game deep, especially here in India. You know, from the moment I got off the first training session, he sat me down, he said, I know you’re going to score runs for us, but I want you to score the majority of your runs between overs ten and 20, he said at Eden Gardens,” Salt said.

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1. England – 498/4 vs Netherlands, 2022

Phil Salt (122) and Dawid Malan’s (125) centuries took England into a strong position before Jos Buttler’s knock of 162 off just 70 balls and Liam Livingstone quick-fire 66 saw the Three Lions destroy the Dutch bowling attack and break the record for the highest ODI total to ever be set. England easily defended the total and went on to win the match by 232 runs.

2. England – 481/6 vs Australia, 2018

Thanks to centuries from both Jonny Bairstow (139) and Alex Hales (147) and a knock of 82 from Jason Roy, England was able to post the huge score. In reply, the Aussies were bundled out for only 239 runs as the Three Lions went on to win the match by a massive 242-run margin.

3. England – 444/3 vs Pakistan, 2016

An amazing knock of 171 runs from Alex Hales and then a 161-run stand between Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan led the Three Lions to the 444-run total. In reply, Pakistan got bowled out for 275 runs as England claimed a 169-run victory.

4. Sri Lanka – 443/9 vs Netherlands, 2006

Sanath Jayasuriya’s magnificent knock of 157 and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s unbeaten 117 helped the Lankan Lions in reaching the mammoth total. In reply, the Netherlands weren’t able to pose much of a threat and got bowled out for only 248 runs and Sri Lanka went on to win the match by 195 runs.

5. South Africa – 439/2 vs West Indies, 2015

An opening 247-run stand between Hashim Amla (153) and Rilee Rossouw (128) saw the Proteas get a fantastic start. Then an outstanding 149-run knock from AB de Villiers off just 49 balls carried South Africa to the huge total. In reply, West Indies was restricted to 291/7 after 50 overs as the Proteas went on to win the clash by 148 runs.

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This incident happened during the powerplay on the fifth over as England lost their second wicket after Jos Buttler in the fourth over.

The delivery was a slow dipping off-cutter from Bumrah which tempted Salt to make a big shot.

However, Salt was took with surprise as he held the pose looking down the pitch, maybe visualizing where the shot could have ended.

With the loss of this critical wicket for the England, India and their fans in the crowd started celebrating again.

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England won the toss and decided to bowl first. West Indian openers, Brandon King and Johnson Charles gave their side an explosive start. Both of them were playing quite well until King suffered a side strain and was forced to retire hurt. Next came Nicholas Pooran who formed a good partnership alongside Charles. England finally were able to get their first wicket of the match in the eleventh over thanks to Moeen Ali who dismissed Charles for 38.

Captain Rovman Powell came in at 4 and smashed the England around the park registering 5 sixes. Pooran played a steady knock as well and gave good support to Powell. However, both of them ended up losing their wickets in consecutive overs. West Indies looked to be in a spot of bother when they lost Andre Russell for a run in the sixteenth over, however Sherfane Rutherford’s impressive cameo of 28 carried the Windies to 180/4 in 20 overs.

In reply, openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler gave England a fantastic start. They crossed 50 runs within the powerplay itself, however Buttler lost his wicket in the seventh over. Moeen Ali also wasn’t able to impact the game much and lost his wicket for only 13 runs as England were 84/2 in 10 overs. Salt formed a great partnership with Bairstow and even went on to smash 30 runs in the 16th over against Rutherford. Salt’s unbeaten 87 and Bairstow’s unbeaten 48 carried England to complete the target of 181 in only 17.3 overs.

Salt was awarded with the man-of-the-match award for his brilliant knock as the Three Lions began their Super 8 campaign on a high with a dominant win against hosts West Indies. If they keep on playing like this then they might even go on to successfully retain their T20 World Cup title.

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Salt was one of several players from the high-scoring West Indies v England T20I series in the Caribbean to enjoy a jump after the latest update on Wednesday.

The England opener’s scores of 119 and 38 in Trinidad moved him up 18 places, with a career-high rating of 802, 15 rating points clear of Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan in third (787), as per ICC.

Despite Salt’s jump, it is daylight between the rest of the field and Suryakumar Yadav in the top spot, with the India batter still well clear on 887.

Fellow English batter Liam Livingstone also enjoyed a batting rankings jump, moving 27 places to 38th after knocks of 54* and 28 across the same matches. Livingstone’s work also helped in the all-rounder category, moving four spots up to eighth (175). His move meant compatriots Moeen Ali and Shadab Khan of Pakistan shared an equal-ninth spot (173).

West Indies claimed the five-match T20I series 3-2, claiming victory in the final match, largely on the back of their bowling, keeping England to just 132 before completing a chase in the final over six wickets down.

Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein took 2/20 from four overs in the victory, and moved two spots up to fourth (683), overtaking the Sri Lankan pair of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana (679 and 677 respectively). Gudakesh Motie jumped 75 spots after claiming 3/24 (4) in the same outing, while Reece Topley on the England side has moved into the top 10 bowlers with a 13-spot jump thanks to five wickets across the two matches across the week.

Meanwhile the ODI series between New Zealand and Bangladesh, as well as India’s trip to South Africa, has led to a number of minor shuffles.

Shoriful Islam’s fine performance with ball in hand saw him climb 24 spots to 35th, while young India left-armer Arshdeep Singh moved up 41 spots, though still outside the top 100.

On the batting side, Najmul Hossain Shanto (up nine spots to equal-49th) made a move, while South Africa’s Tony de Zorzi jumped into the top 100 with a move of 39 spots.

Soumya Sarkar’s electric innings of 169 (151) against the Black Caps helped him climb 52 spots, while Sanju Samson also jumped up 54 spots to a rating of 405.

Sarkar broke Sachin Tendulkar’s 13-year record for the highest ODI score by a sub-continent player in New Zealand, beating The Little Master’s 163* in Christchurch.

Samson made 108 (114) batting at No.3 in Paarl, as India defended 296 in the third ODI against the Proteas.

The post Phil Salt Climbs to 2nd in ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings with Stellar Form appeared first on Cricket Country.

Speaking at the post-match presentation on Saturday, Buttler gave all the “credit” for the win to Philip Salt after his unbeaten 109-run knock during the run chase.

He added that they tried a lot with the ball in the first inning. He also revealed that the wicket was tough for the spinners.
“Great to keep the series alive. Hats off to Salt. Last game we talked about staying till the end. Credit to Salt. We tried a lot with the ball. Was a tough place for the spinners. The three-quarter balls were crucial. Salt has got such great intent. Staying in a game a bit longer is important. Great effort,” Buttler said.

Recapping the match, after winning the toss, England decided to field first. The visitors dominated the game from the very first moment, as the Caribbeans lacked momentum.

Brandon King (8 runs from 5 balls) failed to shine in the game. Kyle Mayers (0 runs from 3 balls) also could not make a mark against England. Skipper Rovman Powell (39 runs from 21 balls) also tried to contribute in the game but wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran (82 runs from 45 balls) was the only standout player for the hosts and took them to 222/6 in the first inning.

On the other hand, Adil Rashid and Sam Curran led the English bowling attack and bagged two wickets each in their respective overs. Moeen Ali and Reece Topley also picked up one wicket each.

In the run chase, English openers Philip Salt (109* runs from 56 balls) and Jos Buttler (51 runs from 34 balls) helped their side to set the momentum. Liam Livingstone (30 runs from 18 balls) and Harry Brook (31* runs from 7 balls) also played a crucial role in the game to make a partnership with Salt.

While, the Caribbean bowling attack displayed a sloppy performance as they failed to defend the given target.
The 4th T20I match of the series will be played on December 19 at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.

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